Fourdrinier-wire stretcher.



APPLICATION FILED APR.8, 1915.

Patented July 16, 1918.

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ALBERT B. WEISSENBORN, OF APPLETON, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-HALF TOAPPLETON VJIRE WORKFJ, OF APPLETON, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WIS-CONSIN.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

FOURDRINIER-VIIRE STRETCHER.

Patented July 16, 1918.

Application filed April 8, 1915. Serial N 0. 20,070.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT B. VVEISSEN- BORN,a citizen of the United States, and resident. of Appleton, in the countyof Outagamie and State of lVisconsin, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Fourdrinier-Wire Stretchers, of which the follow ingis adescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which area part of this specification.

This invention has for its object to provide an improvement inFourdrinier wire stretching machines whereby the wire fabric may besubjected to a suflicienttension to take up the slack in its edgesincident to the weaving operation without danger. of injuring the seam.

I-leretofore it has been customary to stretch a Fourdrinier wire to alimited degree, but in cases where the loom work has left a greatamountof slack along the edges of the cloth it has not been feasible tosubject the fabric to such a degree of tension as to take up the slackat the selvages, owing to the liability of pulling the seam apart in sodoing. By means of the improvements constituting the present inventionthe stretching may be ontinued until it amounts to about twice theamount that has heretofore been considered safe, thus taking up agreater amount of slack in the edges than has been possible with safetyheretofore, and without injury to the seam. This permits of thecorrection of extreme slack con ditions so that both sides of the wiremay be stretched to the same length without undue slack at either edge.

A further objectof the invention is to profeet the seam from injuryduring the stretching operation by embeddin the knuckles on either sidethereof in a yielding or impressionable bearing surface so as to relievethe seam of strain, as by placing a'sheetof rubber or leather around thestretching roll on which the seam is positioned.

With the above and otherobjccts inview the invention consists in theFourdrinier wire stretcher as herein claimed and all equivalents.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like characters ofreference indicate the same parts in the different views, a

Figure 1 is a side view of a Fourdrinier wire stretching machineprovided with the improvements of this invention, with a part brokenaway;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary end view showing the seam positioned on thestretching roll with the protecting material therebetween;

Fig. 4 is an end View showing part of the other end of the machine;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the stretching rOll showing the protectingmaterial thereon; and,

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the seam in position for being rolled.

In these drawings 10 indicates suitable legs or supports on which aremounted the heavy longitudinal side beams 11 which are connected atregular intervals by cross pieces 12 resting on bracket extensions ofthe legs, there being a heavy table 13 mounted on the cross pieces 12and extending from one side beam 11 to the other and from one end of theframe to the other. The side beams 11 rise above the level of the table13 and at one end are provided on their top surface with upstandingdovetail guide flanges 14, on which are slidably mounted bearing blocks15 forming open bearings to receive the trunnionlike ends of a shaft 16carrying a wooden roll 17. Slides 18 are also slidably mounted on theguide flanges 14 and have upstanding flanges 19 with gravity pawls 20pivotally mounted thereon and dropping into engagement with rack teeth21 in grooves of guide flanges 14. An'I-beam 22 turned on its side restson th slides 18 and against the flanges 19 thereof and is adapted tobear at its head against the roll 17.

At the other end of the machine the beams 11 have dovetail grooves 23 attheir upper edges in which are slidably mounted hooklike open bearings24. In said bearings are ournaled the trunnion-like ends of a shaft 25on which a stretching roll 26 is mounted. Bearings 27 fixed on the beams11 have jackscrews 28 threaded through them, and an I- beam 29 which isturned on its side and slidably rests on the side beams 11 is engaged bythe jackscrews 28 and bears against the stretching roll 26. V

In order to stretch a Fourdrinier wire the rolls 17 and 26 are insertedtherein and then mounted in their bearings. The I- beams 22 and 29 arethen placed in position and. the roll 17 is forced rearwardly as far asit will go to take up the slack in the wire, the pawls 20 engaging therack teeth 21 to hold the slides 18 in a position for main taining thisadjustment. The stretching roll 26 is then advanced by turning thejackscrews 28, the jackscrews forcing the I-beam 29 against the roll 26,thus causing the bearing slides 2a to slide in the dovetail guidegrooves 23. This movement of the stretching roll 26 places the wirecloth under tension and stretches it until the undesirable slack at theedges is compensated for by anleather which is wrapped around thestretching roll 26 before the latter is inserted in the endless belt ofwire fabric. Then the seam 32 of the wire fabric is centrally positionedon the stretching roll 26 with the impressionable protecting sheetbetween the fabric and the roll the stretching operation causes theknuckles of the wires of the fabric on each side of the seam to becomedeeply embedded in. the protecting sheet,

thus relieving the stitching wire of the seam from the strain to a largeextent and permittin a greater tension to be applied to the fa ricwithout injuring the seam than would be possible without the presence ofsuch protecting sheet. After a wire has been stretched the seam isrolled and a metal strip 31 is embedded in the stretching'roll 26 toform the anvil or hard bearing surface against which the seam is placedin the manner shown in Fig. 6 for the performance of this rolling orflattening of the seam by the use of a metal roller not shown,

.As a usual thin all Fourdrinier wires have slack edges. It is preferredthat they should be slightly slack, or in other words, not as tight asthe body of the wire. If they are as tight as the body of the wire theywill have a tendency to crack at the edges. In

' the ordinary process of weaving some wires are quite slack at theedges, and some not so much, but all wires have edges sufiiciently slackto necessitate stretching to bring them upor remove the slack. This hascaused more or less trouble because Wires that had slack edges requiredconsiderable stretching and it was impossible to give them the re-'quired amount of stretching because of the seam being pulled open toomuch. In using the protecting sheet, however, the wire is stretched tothe point where rolling the seam is necessary, and then the rubber orleather protecting sheet 30, which is preferably about one-sixteenth ofan inch thick and of sufficient width and length to cover more than halfof the diameter of the stretching roll, is placed between the Wire clothand the stretching roll, the seam being positioned in the middle of thestretching roll so that there is as much strain on one side thereof asthere is on the other. At the points where the wire cloth comes incontact with the sheet rubber it will embed itself therein under thesevere strain to which the cloth is subjected and will not stretchperceptibly because of the reinforcementor resistance to stretching thatis offered by the rubber protecting sheet, and the seam is not daniagedin the least through overstretching.

As before stated, it has heretofore only been possible to stretch a wirea very limited amount, but through the use of this rubber sheet it ispossible to stretch it twice as much, and by doing so the wire isproperly stretched and it is easy to get the wire square and at the sametime bring the edges up so that they are sufliciently tight to answer requirements.

It is obvious that the sheet of protecting material need not be ofrubber or leather but may be of any impressionable, flexible materialthat will reinforce the fabric and relieve the wires on opposite sidesof the seam from the strain of the stretching tension.

What I claim as new and'desire to secure by Letters Patent is: I

1. In a Fourdrinier wire stretching machine having a fixed roll and amovable rollaround'which the Fourdrinier wire fits, a sheet of rubberplaced upon one of the rolls and adapted to have the seam of the fabriccentrally positioned thereon to permit the knuckles of the fabric onboth sides of the seam tobecome indented therein to relieve the seamfrom strain during the stretching operation.

' 2. In a Fourdrinier wire stretching machine, a pair of rolls uponwhich the wire fabriejs placed and one of which is adapted to be movedwith relation to the other to stretch the fabric, one of said rollshaving a resilient surface in which the knuckles of the wire on eitherside of the seam may become embedded to relieve the seam of strainduring the stretching operation.

3. A machine for stretching Fourdrinier wire, comprising a fixed rolland a movable roll around which the Fourdrinier wire fits,

and a removable impressionable covering adapted to be interposed betweenone roll and the scam portion of the Fourdrinier wire to have theknuckles of the wire on either side of the seam become indented thereinto re lieve the seam from strain during the stretching operation.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

ALBERT B. WEISSENBORN.

' Copies this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0.

